Angel of My Eye
by MornaStarlettaFireSeer
Summary: A sequel to You Saved Me, but in Shannon's POV. Shannon is lonely and after almost 10 years of not finding "the one" He meets Ezmeralda, the best friend of Nicol and a very interesting and mysterious woman. Some future scenes of You Saved Me ShannonXOC
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Welcome everyone to the sequel to You Saved Me. I know you all are probably hoping for another story in Jeff's POV, but this next story is in Shannon's POV. You will get to see bits of Jeff's future with Nicol and their two kids, also that time in between the two last chapters of You Saved Me. I got this idea when I was writing the wedding chapter of You Saved Me. It has been brewing in my head for a month now while I wrote Board up the School. I am really excited to begin writing it! I hope you all enjoy it and remember that I love reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jeff or Matt Hardy, Shannon Moore, or anything WWE. I would love to own them, but sadly I don't! I only own Nicol, Ezmeralda, and a few other characters…yea. So ENJOY!!!

Angel of My Eye

Chapter One: Alone

The annoying ringing in my ear woke me from a dead sleep. I had been up late last night ordering inks, needles, and sanitary items for the shop. I didn't want to be woken up four hours after I had fallen asleep. My gray eyes opened to look at the night stand table beside me. My phone was light up and vibrating across the table. I could ignore it, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. Reaching over to the table I picked up the phone and opened it. Bringing it to my ear I heard my own groggy voice.

"Hello?" I spoke into the receiver. My hair was sticking to the sides of my face. It's blonde and black strands tangled and messy from four hours of tossing and turning. The voice on the other line was one I knew, someone new to my life, but still welcome to a tired man like me.

"Shannon! Guess what!" Nicol sounded happy and about to jump through the phone to tackle me back onto my own bed. I laughed at my own silly dream sodden thoughts.

"Jeff turned into a rabbit and hopped around the living room like Peter rabbit." I yawned and Nicol laughed at me.

"No! He proposed!" I heard the happiness in her voice. Jeff had been making all of us wonder if he was going to propose sometime soon, he hadn't done it yet and we all thought it was just because he was in his wheelchair, but after all those months knowing he was going to be able to walk again he still hadn't proposed.

"Finally." I murmured and Nicol giggled into the phone. "Is Jeff awake?" I asked. It was highly unlikely. Jeff was a morning riser, but I knew Jeff, and I knew he had fucked her till the sun came up. With that thought I looked to the window and groaned. The sun was up, that meant I had to get up.

"What's wrong Shannon?" She asked. She was always worried about me. I didn't know exactly why, but I didn't question anything to do with her. She was a really good person and I didn't have to worry.

"Nothing, I didn't get much sleep last night. I was up late last night ordering things for the shop." I rolled myself out of bed and stretched. I felt my muscles ripple and settle back down.

"When did you get to bed?" She asked and I walked over to my dresser and opened the drawers.

"I got to bed at three in the morning." I pulled out a white shirt with the sleeves ripped off and a pair of sweat pants.

"Three in the morning! Shannon you have to be getting more sleep than that!" I smiled as I put her on speaker phone. The sounds of what she was doing filled the room. I started pulling on my pants.

"I know I should, but we were really low on the supplies and I couldn't put it off any more." I stood up straight and took my shirt off the dresser. Pulling it over my head I said, "You know you never answered my question." I walked to the other side of the room leaving my phone where it was and picked up my gages.

"Jeffrey isn't awake yet. He is still sleeping, so I am making him breakfast." I looked to the phone and laughed.

"Wow, you certainly have a lot of energy." It was quiet for a whole minute while I put my piercings in.

"Jeffrey told you we had sex? What did he call you as soon as I fell asleep?" She asked and I heard a bang. I laughed at her temper tantrum and pulled on socks and my sneakers.

"No, I just know Jeff." I heard a sigh and I knew that she was finished throwing her temper tantrum. A yawn worked its way through my body and out of my mouth.

"All right. Shannon I was wondering if Jeffrey and I could come over tomorrow. I told Jeffrey that I wanted to start the wedding plans and Orael said that he wanted to see you. So, I thought that I could start planning over there while Orael visited his uncle." I could hear the smile in her voice. I also heard Jeff's voice on the other side of the phone. "Yea I'm finished breakfast, sit down Jeffrey." I felt a pang in my chest and sighed. I wish I had that. I looked to my empty bed and then away again. I had left Crystal a while ago and I had, had other relationships since her, but none of them felt right. Like Crystal, there had been something missing.

"Yea, you can come over. I would love to see Orael." I didn't want to see their lovey dovey actions, but I did want to see my nephew. I would just have to ignore them. Maybe we could go swimming. It was summer after all. I quickly hung up the phone with Nicol and grabbed a hair tie off of the dresser and walked out of my bedroom and down to my basement where my work out equipment was.

The only company I had was my three dogs. Oz, my first dog, happy in his older age, Hela, a crazy Pomeranian who would bark at the smallest thing and Dragon my mellow dog who everyone said looked like me. I began working out. I would have to be at the shop in two hours and I didn't want to waste a moment of this time. It was easy to waste time when you didn't have anyone to spend it with.

A/N: Alright well that was the first chapter! I hope you liked it! I'm excited to write this one. I'm not expecting many reviews for it, because it is a Shannon Moore story and I never get reviews for my Shannon Moore stories, but hey maybe this one will be different. REVIEW PLEASUMS!!!!

~*Morna*~


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hey ya'll I posted yesterday while I was at my grandmothers. Made some awesome pants that I am proud of ^.~ gotta love grandmas. Anyway I am still very excited to be writing this story. I hope it is as good and as popular as You Saved Me. This last marking period is going to be a lot easier if you ask me. I have also decided to take a year off from school and work on the books that I am writing. A couple people in my family don't think that I can do it. But, I feel like this is what I should be doing. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter.

Chapter Two: Oh Joy

It was the day when Orael, Jeff, and Nicol were coming over to visit; and make wedding plans. I sat on my deck with a water bottle in my hand. The sun beat down on my solid frame without remorse. It was hot for a June day. I looked to the temperature on the wall and sighed. It was ninety eight degrees and it was still morning. Today was not a day to be going outside. I would have to convince Orael that we had to stay inside. I listened to my hot tub, which wasn't on, trickle into the pool. Maybe we could swim for a little while.

The sound of water was calming. I closed my eyes and sighed with content. Taking a swig out of my water bottle I remained in my own thoughts until I heard Jeff's car roll into the driveway out front. I didn't want to move. The sun was nice against my skin and I couldn't resist the allure of the quiet breezes that whispered it's way over the top of my fence.

With a groan I lifted myself out of the lounge chair and into my kitchen. I grabbed a menu out of the drawer and sat it on the dining room table. I then made my way to the front door where Jeff was knocking patiently. Opening the door with ease I welcomed them warmly standing aside to let them in.

"Hey everyone, how's it goin'?" I asked my slight southern undertone, which I was never able to get rid of, sneaking into my words.

"Good Uncle Shannon!" Orael squealed. He ran right to the door of the backyard.

"Only until food gets here, then you know the rules!" I yelled after him before turning back to a kissing Nicol and Jeff. I didn't know weather or not to clear my throat or to just leave them there, making it look like I was going after Orael. I finally cleared my throat and as Jeff pulled away from Nicol and patted him on the shoulder. "Glad to hear you finally asked her brother!" Jeff smiled crookedly.

"Yea, me too. Best decision I have ever made!" Nicol clung to him with all her might. I motioned to the table.

"I was about to order pizza, what do you want?" Jeff walked to the table and sat down immediately. He was a pizza fiend and I knew that he would want some. Nicol put down several notebooks and sat herself on Jeff's lap looking at the menu. Once they had ordered I made the order to be delivered. That was the one good thing of being near a populated area.

I walked out of the house and out back. Orael was waiting on a lounge chair for me to come out. I pulled down my shorts to reveal my swimming trunks. I pulled my shirt over my head and walked over to the pool. Orael with his swimmies followed me into the pool. I jumped into the deeper end and Orael into the shallower end. He came up sputtering and laughing. I took him by his arms and guided him to the deeper end.

"Orael would you like to learn how to swim?" I asked and kicked around the pool with Orael in tow. Orael looked to me eyes scared, but feverish for a new adventure. I could see him swallow the lump most likely forming in his throat and nod.

"Yes Uncle Shannon I would." He murmured softly and I took us back to the shallow end.

"I'm going to take off your swimmies okay?" I asked reaching for one of the inflatable arm bands. Orael looked at my hand like it was going to be the one to kill him.

"Promise you won't let me drown?" He asked and I nodded, smiling to him.

"I promise I won't let you drown." I took the swimmies off of his arms and placed them on the side of the pool. Taking him by his arms I coaxed him into the beginning stages of learning how to swim, just as my father had taught me how to before his accident. "Kick your legs Orael."

He did just that, splashing me with all the water he could out of fear. "Orael, I won't let you go, just kick. Kick like how you see Daddy and I kick when we are swimming." Orael tried again. This time it was a little less fearful and more concentration. I smiled as I guided him around the shallow end of the pool. He was panting his heart out by the time the pizza came. Orael ran into the house forgetting his towel on the chair to tell his father what he had done.

"Daddy! I leaned how to swim!" He yelled triumphantly. I put the towel under Orael before he sat down on the chair and smiled.

"I taught him how to kick correctly to swim; we haven't been taught how to move our arms yet." I said sitting down at the head of the table. Jeff put a piece of pizza onto Orael's plate and everyone said a quick grace.

"Shannon, one of my friend's is coming over to help with the planning of the wedding." I heard Nicol say before she took another bite of her pizza. "I hope you don't mind." I normally minded when people gave out my address. Who knew who would leak my address to the public.

"I don't mind Nicol." I said and continued eating as well. Lunch went by pretty fast. I had to grab Orael by the trunks to stop him from running out to the pool after he had finished eating. Everyone sat down on my couch to watch some television. Nicol laid down on Jeff's lap and dozed for a few minutes while Jeff and I talked. Orael was so engrossed in the TV show to care what we were saying.

"I'm glad that we are getting married. I really thought that the whole, you know, Ethbe thing would ruin the relationship." Jeff didn't often speak pig Latin, but I knew he was talking about Beth. I'm surprised that Orael was as happy as he was right now.

"Naw man, she loves you. Everyone could see it. The whole Matt thing was a bit weird, but still, we all know that she loves you." I flipped the channel, with a protest from Orael and flipped it back.

"I know, I just wish I could have seen it before I did." I nodded slowly to what Jeff had said.

"You weren't in your right mind brother, don't worry about it." Jeff sighed and I saw him stroke Nicol's hair in the peripheral of my vision. I got up and walked into the kitchen. I was going to get water from the fridge and Jeff another soda. Hearing the door bell ring I raised and eye brow. No one rang my doorbell it much have been that friend of Nicol's. I walked into the living room, tossed Jeff his soda, and walked to answer the door.

Opening the door I looked to a woman with hair as dark brown as the trees and as wavy as water curling onto the shore. Her eyes were a deep blue/green like the Mediterranean Sea at night, with skin the color of burnt sienna. She wore loose clothing for this hot day; a tank top, with a flowing skirt that came down about mid thigh. I couldn't tare my eyes away from her. Something in my mind clicked and started to bother me, like an itch I couldn't reach. I finally found the words jumbled in my mind. Mentally picking each one up I tried to put them in the form of a sentence.

"Hello, my name is Ezmeralda." She said. Her voice was silken sweet, like sun light dancing across a calm lake. I forced a reply out of my mouth as it tried to betray me.

"I'm Shannon; you must be Nicol's friend she was talking about." I held out my hand and smiled. Ezmeralda looked at my hand and took it with a smile of her own.

"Nice to meet you Shannon." Wow.

A/N: Alright there is the second chapter. I didn't think I was going to put Ezmeralda into this chapter. But, anyway I did. So enjoy! REVIEW PLEASUSMS!!!!!!

~*Morna*~


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey everyone. I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter! I am going to be typing this up with the spare time I am given when the juniors have to take PSSA (Pennsylvania State Standardized Assessments. Big test thing.) I hope you enjoy this next chapter! I have to tell you all that I started crying with the research that I did for this story. It is going to be a very in depth story like some of my others. I hope that those of you who love in depths stories enjoy this one because I put a lot of my own heart into this one.

Chapter Three: The Girl

When she spoke my name it was amazing. It was like a choir singing from the heavens itself. I would listen to hear talk all day if I could. I blinked; once…twice…three times before I managed to say something again.

"Please come in, Nicol and Jeff are in the living room. We just ate and Orael is waiting to go back in the pool." I moved aside to let her in and when she stepped into the door I watched her walk. She was graceful with every movement that she made. I couldn't keep my eyes off of the way her hips moved. Orael came running to her open armed.

"Aunt Ezmeralda!" He yelled jumping into her arms. She grabbed him and spun him around in the same movement. She was even graceful when she was met by such a child as Orael. Nicol looked up from Jeff and smiled at her friend.

"Hey Ezmerdala, thank you so much for coming by. We started planning already and I wanted to know what you thought about some of the things that we had."

"I would love to Niccy, but could we move outside?" She asked. Was there something wrong with my house? I hope there wasn't anything that she didn't like about it. She had only ben in my house for a minute, no more. Come to think of it, I don't think that she even took a good look at my house at all.

"Of coarse! I know you like to be outside, so while Shannon and Orael were out swimming I set up a table outside. I don't think they noticed." I looked at Nicol and frowned. I hadn't noticed when she had done that. It made me look like I didn't know things that happened in my own home. Normally I was very perspective of my house and what happened in it. Why wasn't I now?

"Great! I just need to go to the bathroom and I will be back out. Where is the bathroom?" She asked turning to me. I hadn't thought that she was going to ask me. Nicol and Jeff both knew where my bathroom was, but she had asked me.

"It's uh…It's down the hall and to your right." I said stuttering over myself. She nodded with a smile that I imprinted into my memory. She walked by me and I could feel a warmth surrounding her. I instinctively moved closer to her, but our bodies didn't touch. Jeff looked to me and raised his eye brow.

"Dude what up?" He asked and I walked over to pick up Orael. Nicol had gone to the kitchen to collect the things that she was using to plan the party.

"I don't know man." I said clearly confused also. I had no clue why I was acting this way. No woman had ever had this effect on me.

"Come on let's go outside. Maybe you need some air." He said and I followed him with Orael to the deck. Orael wiggled free from my grasp to jump into the pool with his swimmies on. I smiled and sat on the edge of the pool.

"I don't know dude don't ask me." I said hearing Jeff take a deep breath to start speaking. Jeff closed his mouth and I sighed. I wish I did know why this woman had this effect on me. I watched Orael swim around the pool practicing his kicking and smiled. I heard Nicol come out of the house and sighed.

"Shannon you do know that the bathroom is on the left." I froze. Shit, why couldn't I remember even the simplest thing as my directions? I frowned and looked to Nicol. She smiled knowingly and sat down at the table. How could everyone see what this girl did to me? Ezmeralda walked out of the house and onto the deck. She smiled at me and I could feel everyone gaze in my direction. I smiled back.

"I like the décor in your house. It is very diverse." She complimented my house! So she did just want to be outside. She sat down gracefully next to Nicol and smiled across the table at Jeff.

"Thank you." I said and slid into the pool with Orael. Taking off his swimmies I grabbed him around the waist. "Orael you need to make a cup out of both of your hands." Orael made a cup out of both of his hands and I adjusted where I saw fit. "Now scoop the water with your hands and push yourself forward." I let my arms fall limply to give him the power to propel himself forward. I was only there to make sure he didn't go under. He slowly got the hang of what he had to do with his arms. He was a fast learner for a kid and I knew that it made everything easier for Jeff and Nicol.

"Do you want to try on your own now?" I asked and Orael looked to me like he was going to cry. I smiled at him reassuringly and continued. "I'll be right here if you start to go under. Don't worry. Just do what I taught you and you'll be fine. You have to kick and paddle at the same time though." I knew that he was going to get it his first try. He wasn't stupid, he was his father's kid and would do fine.

"Alright Uncle Shannon." He said and I guided him to the shallower end of the pool. Leaving him there he started to swim toward me. He was splashing around at first, but once he got into the swing of things he was fine. He swam across the shallow end of the pool five times before he climbed out and ran to his mother begging for food.

I on the other hand climbed onto the floating pool chair and slid my sun glasses onto my watering eyes. The sun was brutal to them and I had been seeing nothing but the reflection off of the pool water for two hours. I knew I would see spots for hours after. Closing my eyes behind the sun glasses I soaked up the sun drying off my wet body. I hadn't seen Ezmeralda sit on the edge of the pool and dip her feet in.

"You're really good with kids." She said softly. Her voice carried across the water to where I was laying. I jumped and just barely kept myself on the chair before I looked over to her. She was giggling softly behind her and. She was a quiet person no louder than a mouse during the winter.

"I love my nephew." I murmured and laid back in the chair.

"Well, regardless, you are good with kids." She repeated and I smiled to her. "I like your yard, it's very well kept." She looked around to the flowers and the different plants I had put there. I hadn't touched it, I had a gardener, she took care of everything. If I touched it I knew I would kill it.

"Thank you, I'm not much of a gardener, so I hired one to take care of the yard. I didn't want to kill any of it." She looked to me and I looked at her. Something in those eyes reminded me of something. "Have I met you before?" I asked. She shook her head, but it didn't seem like she believed in her own answer.

"I don't believe I have. I would have remembered you." She said and I smiled. Something about this girl was insanely familiar and I wish I could put my finger on it.

A/N: Alright there is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it. I typed this up while I waited for the juniors to get finished taking their big exams. Yay free time! REVIEW PLEASUMS!!!!

~*Morna*~


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hey everyone. I am thinking a lot about where I want to go with this story and I also have thought of a new story. But I don't know if I am going to make it into a story or a book. I am already writing two books. So I think I am going to make it into a story. I just don't know who I want the main character to be. Anyway onto the story!

Chapter Four: The Question

I sat staring at this girl next to me. She was quiet. She didn't need to talk however. Her intentions were written on her face. She was mysterious yet I knew that she was no threat to me, or anyone for that matter. She was reading a book that I did not recognize. She seemed to be at peace in the sun. My thoughts were listing and I couldn't seem to grasp at one thought. However words were forming in my mouth.

"What are you reading?" I asked. It was the first thing that came to mind. She turned to me and she smiled. She looked at the cover, which seemed to be in a different language.

"It's a book on divination." I saw her continue to read and I frowned. The only time I had ever heard the word divination was when Matt's girlfriend from a couple years back was talking about some book on magic she was reading. It was a fantasy book though.

"Oh so you're into fantasy books." I said guessing that, that is what she was reading. She looked back to me and her smile faded.

"No I am reading a book on divination, the different practices of divination and the history behind it." She seemed very serious on the subject. I didn't even know what divination was. I didn't want to seem ignorant of what it was, but it seemed like something to do with magic.

"Have you ever cast divination?" I said lying back in my lounge chair. Her face lit with a smile and she covered it with her book.

"You can't cast divination." She said. I could hear her force back a giggle. Great, I just made myself look like a fool. What the fuck. I sighed and dived right into the hole I had just dug for myself.

"So what is it?" I asked putting my sun glasses back onto my face. She put a book mark in the book and placed it on the concrete behind her.

"It's a way to see into the future…or the past. Depending on what you want to see." She wiggled her toes in the water and I looked down at her ankle. She had a tattoo. It was of a fairy in earth colored clothing. I looked to her face and smiled.

"So you practice witchcraft?" I asked. I didn't know whether to question her sanity or to take her seriously.

"Yes I do." She looked like she was taking the offensive. I didn't mean to offend her. At least I knew that she was serious.

"What is it about?" I asked quickly showing that I wasn't trying to offend her in any way. She looked to me, weary of my intentions. I smiled to her and she smiled back, though I could still see the careful approach that she took to me.

"Wicca is a religion that practices Witchcraft, or Magic. They believe in a God and a Goddess and they believe in Karma. They don't believe in the Devil or Hell. They believe in reincarnation and that they have the power to create their own fate or destiny. They also believe that you should harm no one. Whether that be physically, mentally, or emotionally. Wiccans read the future, the past, and the present. They are the great healers and they have been the shamans of the many tribes through out time. They are first and foremost however the sons and daughters of the God and Goddess." Ezmeralda looked to me with a smile on her face. I blinked.

"Wow." I said and blinked again. That was a lot of information said in such a small amount of time. She was reading her book again once I finally formed questions in my mind. The first and most prominent on my mind was, "How do you know so much about this?" She looked back up to me and I watched her. Her carefulness was starting to go down.

"You are Christian, No?" she asked.

"I asked my question first." She frowned and her eyebrows knitted together.

"I am a Wiccan High Priestess. Now, answer my question." She was pushy. I liked that.

"Yes I'm Christian. Wow, how long have you been a Wiccan Priestess?" I asked looking at my arm as I slowly changed colors in the afternoon sun.

"Since I have been old enough to buy cigarettes legally." She said in a joking tone. I looked at her trying to figure out if she was joking about how long. She looked serious enough, but there had still been that joking tone.

"Are you serious?" I asked. She nodded and I raised my eyebrow.

"Then what were you joking about?"

"I don't smoke." I blinked and looked at her more seriously. She was a puzzle to me. She jokes one minute and she is irritated the next, then she is joking again. What was her deal?

"Oh, well, hey, do you want to go out to lunch sometime next week?" I asked. It came out of my mouth before I could think about any type of answer she could give me and psych myself out. She looked at me over her book and smiled, that was a good sign.

"I would love to go out with you for lunch. I know a great bar on the other side of Charlotte." A bar? Does she dink then?

"So you drink?"

"No." I blinked. This woman was the most flip flopped person I have ever met in my life. What the fuck?

"Then why are we going to a bar?" I asked.

"My father always used to take me there after I turned eighteen and it has great food there. It's a biker bar, but they are cool people there." I felt stupid asking all of these questions where she kept on saying no to them, but a biker bar.

"So your father was a biker?" I asked. Something safe, I didn't want to seem like a complete fool.

"Yea, he taught me how to ride. I ride up the coast and down the coast all the time. There is a really good bar and inn called The Union bar and inn, that is a really good biker place; that is up in Maine though."

"Oh, you ride too? I ride, do you want to ride up there on my motorcycle then?" I asked She smiled and shook her head.

"No I can ride on my own bike. I'm proud of my Harley." She closed her book and pointed to the sky behind me. I turned and looked. Big black clouds were heading right over us. I frowned and swam out of the pool. This was awesome I had a date to a biker bar with a hot chick who is a witch, and she rides a Harley. Fucking Awesome!

A/N: Hey everyone I'm sorry it took me so long to get the last chapters up but hey, it isn't easy when your couch eats your flash drives…... mean couch. Well I got them back now and I can continue with what I was doing. Love you guys!!!!! REVIEW PLEASUMS!!!

~*Morna*~


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey everyone, I am sorry to say that A Change of Heart is on hold because the author that I am writing with had to stop writing for a little while, she has to look for a job. So until she finds a job A Change of Heart is on hold. Another thing, I am currently going to be updating less because not only do I have to prepare for my graduation, do graduation projects, and the sort, but I also have to clean up my house to get ready to sell it. I also have to look for a job of my own, and pack, and find an apartment. I will update as much as I can but right now this whole writing thing needs to be put on pause. This is going to be killing me because I love to write and I know you all love my writing. Here is the next chapter of this story how ever. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter Five: Thursday

I woke up on Thursday with a smile on my face. We were going to be going to a biker bar on Friday, Ezmeralda and I. I had gotten her number and I had talked to her non-stop on Wednesday after I got home from work. She was amazing in every sense of the word. I couldn't wait to go out with her. I pulled on my pants that I had just washed, and a t-shirt with the arms cut out. I shoved my feet into my shoes and walked out of the house grabbing my car keys.

I had work to do today. I had to get to the gym to work out for a couple of hours and then I had to go to the shop. Being a manager and owner of a tattoo shop isn't as easy as I thought it would be. I had to constantly be ordering things; I had to make sure all of my employees got the money that they earned. I had to do the taxes for the shop, make sure that everything was going well. It has a lot more to do with it then putting in my artistic vision and letting another person deal with things. I had tried to make it that way the first month and I had almost lost the shop. I trust my baby more in my own hands.

Hopping in the Hummer I made my way to the gym. No one is normally there at this time of the morning. Normal people are at work. Thinking back to the opportunities I have had and grabbed and held on with all my might, to think that I could be working a nine to five job, makes me shiver. The stop lights went by and I rolled into the Dunkin' Donuts to grab a coffee. I would rather have coffee from somewhere else, but I was in a hurry and they do have fast service.

I ordered my regular Hazelnut coffee with four sugars and creamer on the side. It wasn't that hard to make a good coffee, but no place ever got mine right. So I ended up having packets of sugar in my glove box for emergencies. They handed me my coffee and I continued onto the gym. Fixing my coffee at a stop light I took a swig of it. The heat instantly warmed my body. I sighed and leaned back in the seat of my Hummer letting the caffeine work its way through my system.

Matt would be at the gym. It was Thursday after all and he had just gotten home from WWE last night. Some people wouldn't think that working for WWE would be as much work as other jobs. A wrestlers schedule is hard. Sleeping hours are always iffy, working out is as important as performance, you have to eat right, weigh right, sometimes I feel like a super model. I have to make sure that everything is perfect. Of course super models don't have to lift weights, but still, the prep for a nights work, the whole life style is almost the same as those of super models.

I chuckled to myself as these thoughts rolled through my head with each intake of caffeine. I was definitely waking up. By the time I turned the corner off of the main street into the parking lot of Gold's Gym, I was finished my medium coffee and placing it into the cup holder. This routine was engraved into my very fibers. I was after all thirty four. Sixteen years went into getting me into a good routine. Scheduling flights at the right time to make sure that I would have the right time to sleep and be awake the next day for a night full of working and partying.

Yea I was a party guy, just like Matt and Jeff. I didn't smoke, but I sure as Hell drank my ass off at bars and at parties. I didn't know if that would effect Ezmeralda's feelings toward me, but like I have always said, I don't care what other people think or say about me, Hell she didn't even need to like me if she didn't like my partying. I jumped out of the Hummer and grabbed my duffel bag out of the back.

"Hey man!" Matt yelled to me waving from the lifting machine. I waved back and got changed in the back. Once I got changed I came out and looked around the gym for Matt. Jeff was on the bench press with Nicol beside him. I raised an eyebrow.

"Where is Orael?" I asked Nicol and she smiled.

"With Ez." I had to of looked still dumbfounded because the next thing she said was, "You know, the girl you're falling head over heals for already." I could feel the blush run across my face. She was laughing at my expense and I could do nothing about it. It was true, I was falling for her. I couldn't help but have feelings for this woman. She was amazing in all aspects of the word and I couldn't wait to see her on Friday.

"Shan is fallin' for a girl?" Matt asked and I glared at him.

"I wasn't going to fall for a dude." I said setting myself up to lift a warm up weight.

"I don't know Brian, I was wondering there for a minute." I had half the mind to pick up a twenty pound weight and through it at him, but then it probably wouldn't have even put a dent in his thick skull.

"Don't make me hurt you Hardy. I am stronger than you." I threatened.

"Bull shit shortie." Matt scoffed and continued with the weights for his knee.

"Ooh!" Jeff called from the elliptical. Nicol snickered and I stood next to the machine I was at.

"Wanna bet?" Matt stopped and looked at me.

"You know I wanna bet Shannon." He stood, pulled down his pant leg and walked over to where I was.

"Alright, one week's payment. That includes my Gas Chamber Ink pay check." Matt smiled at the wager and I smiled back. I knew I would win. I worked only on my arms. He would be eating my dust in no time.

"Alright Ten reps of 100 ten reps of 200 ten reps of 300 and then ten reps of 320 then ten of 340 ECT. Until we see who can't lift any more. First one to drop out loses their pay check for a week. "Matt said and held out his right hand. I took his hand and we shook to finalize the deal.

"Alright let's go. Hey Jeff get over here and judge!" I yelled over to the new fiancés that were making out. At least he was working out something. I chuckled at my own thoughts and sat down on the bench. This wasn't going to be too hard. I had weights down in my basement and I did this kind of thing every morning regardless if I went to the gym or not.

"Dude, I was busy!" Jeff punched me in the arm and I laughed. I saw Matt sit down on the machine next to me and I adjusted my weight to be 100 pounds. "Get ready! Three…Two…One…Go!" Jeff watched both of us and counted how fast we were to do the reps. 100 pounds went fast, so did 200, once we got to 300 Jeff slowed down his count which made it harder. We were still in training even though we were competing. It started to get hard and I could feel my muscles straining against the weight.

"So how good did she look Shan?" Matt asked me from where he was. Was he trying to show off? I laughed and pushed the weight up with Jeff's counts.

"Hot, sexy, need I say more?" I asked grunting with the next push. Matt laughed.

"What did she look like?" He asked. I gave a quick description and looked over to Matt. I could see that his pushes were getting slower. "Sounds like you are having a bit of trouble Moore." He said to me. Now he was trying to get to my head. Perhaps it would have worked if I hadn't of looked over and seen that he was slowing down. We were at 360 pounds. It was going well for me.

"Nope, I just noise when I work out." I laughed at the double meaning and Jeff chimed in too. Matt didn't say anything for a while and finally when we hit 400 Matt dropped out at the eighth push. I finished my reps even though I didn't have to. I sat up and stretched my arms to prevent muscle spasms. I could feel them flexing and turning under my skin. They were burning. I loved the feel of when I had worked out really well; the tired feeling, the burning and the feel of my torn muscles. It felt like a good days work. I changed my work out station as Matt grumbled about how much he, now wasn't, getting paid. Jeff patted him on the back telling him that he should have known that he wasn't going to win that battle.

The rest of the two hours went by quickly. I showered in the changing rooms and changed into my normal attire. I said goodbye to Jeff, Nicol, and Matt and started over to the shop. I was a bit hungry so I stopped at the Salad Works and got myself a salad for lunch. I didn't want to over eat, salads weren't many calories and I was slacking on watching those.

I brought the salad to the shop and ate there. I hadn't noticed the little smiles I had been letting out every once and a while when I was thinking about Ezmeralda. However Tiff noticed. She stood in front of me and smiled.

"So who is the lucky lady?" She asked pointedly. I looked up from the paper work that I had been staring at for the past half an hour and gave her my most confused look.

"What?" I asked stupidly. I hadn't heard her, but I had noticed her presence and her voice. Assuming that she had been speaking to me I had averted my attention away from the papers, well, more my own thoughts.

"Who is the lucky lady?" She asked again. I looked back down at the papers and I heard Shane stop working on one of our costumers. I sighed, now that tiff had everyone's attention I definitely didn't want to talk about it.

"What's her name?" Shane yelled from behind the curtains. I leaned back in the chair and put my feet on the counter.

"Ezmeralda." I murmured.

"Pretty name!" Tiff said. "What is she like?" I was really tired of getting questioned. It wasn't like I didn't have girlfriends in the past. They have all met them and they had never asked questions before.

"Why are you asking about her?" I asked them back. Answering a question with a question was my expertise. Fuck wrestling, I could be a professional philosopher if I wanted.

"Because you have that look in your eye." I looked up to Tiff.

"What look?" Shane asked for me starting on the tattoo again. I didn't have a clue what she was talking about and I was glad that Shane asked and I didn't have to.

"The" I'm in love at first sight" look." She pushed herself off of the counter with her hip and walked away from the counter.

"I don't know what you are talking about. She is just like the other girls I have gone out with. I think she is hot so I ask her on a date. I don't know much about her." I said to her. She nodded and gave me a look that said all-right. "Seriously!" I told her.

"Okay Shannon. You just wait and see you are going to fall in love with this girl." Tiff walked over to the wall where our calendar was and marked her prophecy on the calendar. I sighed and shook my head.

"I will always hope that, but the past couple of girlfriends haven't been so lucky." I said. I placed the paper work on the desk and rubbed my face frustratingly. I knew that I couldn't focus for shit. The day went by slowly after that. I tried to occupy myself with little things around the shop. I drew, I talked. But when ever I did these things I couldn't help my mind from flowing to her.

I had drawn intricate tattoo designs for a person and ended up changing it into a dragon holding a pentacle in its claw. It was coming out of a ball, which I couldn't decide if it was a crystal ball, a full moon, or the world. The woman had only asked for something symbolic for the power of the elements. Needless to say it was evident that I had been studying. She liked the idea. Shane congratulated me on a job well done. The whole work would take a total of thirty hours. She was getting it all the way down her back. She wanted it in color and she wanted symbols for the elements.

Finally it was time to close up shop. Nine o'clock had taken forever to come around to. I jumped out of the seat I was sitting in. Threw the keys to Shane telling him to close for the night and bolted out the door. Driving home would take a big chunk out of the night. I just couldn't wait to get home, feed the dogs, let them out, and let sleep engulf me. That would make everything go ten times quicker.

At home I looked at my phone and I saw that Ezmeralda had called me several times. My stomach dropped to my feet. What if she was canceling? I thought to myself. I didn't want to have to beg to go out with her, but damn it I wanted to date her and I would if I was forced to!

I picked up my phone, check the voice mail, and smiled. It was Ezmeralda, but she wasn't canceling.

"Shannon, can you call me I wanted to discuss where we would meet tomorrow. I didn't know if you wanted to meet at your house, a store, or maybe Jeff's house. Just give me a call back and we can talk about it." I deleted the message and I called her back. She answered on the fourth ring and I could hear water in the back ground.

"Sorry, did I interrupt a shower?" I asked. I heard the water stop and a puff of air.

"Aries stop licking the phone!" She yelled. "Hold on!" I heard her put down the phone and I waiting for her to come back. After a few minutes she came back and sighed. "Sorry I was giving my dog a bath. How are you Shannon?" She asked. I could hear doors opening and closing and the sound of a baby crying.

"I'm fine. You didn't tell me you had a baby." I said.

"I don't it's my sister's baby. I am babysitting for the night. She is going to classes." I smiled at her kindness and sat on the couch after letting my own dogs out.

"That's nice of you. You wanted to discuss where we would meet?" I asked. She confirmed my question and I continued. "Well I don't see why we can't meet at my house. You already know where it is." She made a thoughtful noise in response.

"Alright, sounds good to me." She yawned and I got up to let the dogs back in. We talked for another half an hour until I heard her drifting off to sleep. We said our goodbyes and I sat my phone down on the night stand table. Stripping I replaced my clothing with baggy Joe boxer pants and got into bed. The dogs arranged themselves in for the night and I turned off the light.

I couldn't get her out of my mind; her voice, her laugh, her yawns and sneezes. She was discrete about everything that she did. She was always polite and she didn't try to offend anyone. Normally I didn't go for the girls who were like that but for some reason I was attracted to this girl. Matt and Jeff would have said, maybe I had grown a long lost brain cell saying that the bad girls are the ones who always end up shitty. Perhaps I had grown a brain cell that week, but this seemed deeper than that. This was something different.

I finally fell asleep around twelve O'clock. Sleep wasn't troubled, but it was hard to stay asleep without waking up and checking the clock every hour on the hour. I tried to let dreams take me away, but even my dreams were filled with odd situations with Ezmeralda.

A/N: HOLY SHIT!!! That is a long chapter! I wrote that all in a day. I know, it shouldn't take me longer than that to write one chapter. But remember I am a student, and I am trying to find a job. Not only that, but I have a very hectic social life, and I have a house to prepare for moving, and a father to take care of….. I know the last reason sounds weird. Trust me it is annoying as hell. Oh well. Such is life in some cases. Anyway I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and will read on to the next one. REVIEW PLEASUMS!!!

~*Morna*~


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Yay! We are moving right along. Sorry to say however, this isn't that chapter with the date between Ezmeralda and Shannon. We are going to have some fun? Alright here we go.

Chapter Six: One Hurt Soul

I was standing in the middle of no where. I was in complete darkness. I couldn't see where I was going or what I was doing. Somehow my feet were moving along by themselves. I could feel eyes looking at me. I was freezing and I knew I wasn't wearing clothes. The ground was as hard as rocks, was I in a cave? I stopped and listened for what seemed like hours. Sitting on the ground I felt no life other than myself in this desolate place. I think my eyes closed, I couldn't be sure.

The next thing I could remember was waking to look at a bobbing light in the distance. I had been so long in the dark that I couldn't decide if it was my imagination or if it was really there. Finally I concluded that it was real. Standing I saw the outline of my body begin to appear in the dark cave. Looking down to my hands I could see my arms were pale, not my usual tan. How long had I been in here?

"Karn?" A voice said in front of me. I looked it seemed familiar, but my name wasn't Karn, nor did I know a word that even resembled Karn. Unbidden by my thoughts I nodded and squinted at the light. The light came faster now. A woman dressed in a wool dress came and hugged me.

"How did you find me?" The words came out of my mouth without thinking them. Perhaps I was thinking them.

"They left a while ago, I found my way using their guide ropes." She covered my eyes with a kerchief she had in her pocket. Kerchief, what the fuck is a kerchief? I scrambled through the passage ways with her. She seemed so familiar. If I could only look at her face. I didn't know if I would recognize her or not.

"I'm so hungry." I said, I just realized that I was starved.

"We can get you food after we find you clothes, and mend those wounds. They look horrible. What did they do to you?" She sounded close to sobbing.

"Don't worry Elli." I said and I reached blindly in the dark for her face. She sighed and I could feel that she had been crying. "They didn't do anything too bad." Images of my own torture flashed through my mind. I couldn't believe how much my body had gone through and I was still willing to breathe.

"Alright, we only have a few more steps to go and then we are out." She murmured and I suddenly felt light headed. Wizzing through the air I felt it lodge itself in my chest. I could hear her screaming for me. I could hear her calling out for me. What was this? 'A collection of spider venom you idiot.' My mind told me. Spider venom? It can stop your heart? Elli? What about Elli? Who was Elli?....Elli… Elli…

I woke up and looked at the ceiling. I wasn't afraid of the dream. I couldn't get it out of my head. It was three-twenty one in the morning. Why did I have that dream? It was so infamiliar, but still familiar to me. I have never seen that place, that girl, and I have definitely never been tortured before. Unless of course you mean tortured sexually by one of my girlfriends, but never like that. No, never like that. I winced as the memories flooded back to me. How could anyone survive that?

I stood from the bed and stretched. My body felt tired. It was as if I hadn't of slept at all. I jumped into the shower and washed all over, cleaning off invisible dirt from that grimy dank cave from my imagination. I yawned and looked at the clock when I had finished. It was four O'clock. I sighed and simply laid back in bed. Ezmeralda wasn't due here until ten. I could get another four hours of sleep and then get up, train for an hour, then get cleaned up, dressed, and before I knew it she would be here.

Sleep didn't come as easily as I had hoped this time. I couldn't get that dream out of my head. Normally I didn't remember my dreams, but for some reason this one was as clear as day. Yawning I pat Dragon on the head and he curled up next to me. Hela was at my other side, and Oz was lying across my legs, his favorite place to lie. Finally with the comforting thought that I had my dogs with me I was able to sleep.

This time when I went to sleep however I didn't have any weird dreams about anything. In fact I didn't have any dreams at all. Good, I didn't want to dream anything. I didn't even want to remember the torture that that guy had gone through, who ever he was.

A/N: Alright that was another chapter and I have a whole bunch more coming up. However!!! Love that word btw….I am going to go to bed now, because I'm tired and I cleaned all day….yay….*yawn* Night peeps…ummm….I guess most of you that are reading this are Moorons though….okay….night Mooreons….


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hey everyone! Here goes the date!

Chapter Seven: Dating Ezmeralda

I woke up that morning feeling as though I hadn't gotten any sleep at all. My hair was matted and strewn across my face and what little clothes I had wore to bed were tangled around my body turning myself into a mummified prince of punk.

I stood from the bed and looked at the ball of sheets that my bed had turned into. I couldn't even imagine what I had been doing while I had dreamt of Karn and Elli. Who ever they were I felt a strong emotional connection to this dream and I couldn't put my finger on it.

My mind wandered as I collected my clothing from the dryer. Who could these people have been? Who were they to me? I don't think I have ever thought about a dream as much as this one. Then again, I don't think I had ever dreamed of something so vivid and clear before either. Most importantly, Why had I dreamed of being a man named Karn?

Pulling on my clothing I made my way out into the kitchen to let my dogs outside. They danced around me in happiness at being let outside to run and play. Meanwhile I grabbed a bagel an egg and a sausage patty out of the fridge and I made myself a breakfast sandwich. Who needed a convenience store when you could make it cheaper at home.

I opened the door to let the dogs back in and grabbed the keys to my Harley. I ate the food quickly and popped the last bit into my mouth as Ezmeralda knocked on my front door. I swallowed and walked to the door. Opening it I saw a totally different side of her. She was dressed in jeans and chapps, a leather jacket and her hair was braided and a dew cap on top of her head. She held a black helmet on her hip that had stickers on it. I could only see a few of them like, Save a Horse Ride a Biker, Ok I'm Sorry UnFuck yourself, and Till Death do us part with a picture of a Harley next to it. I smiled at the change and she smiled back.

"I like the outfit." I said and walked to my garage. Opening it I looked out the side of my vision and saw her Harley. It was purple and orange, two colors that didn't really go together. I backed my bike out of the garage and smiled. My bike was orange and green and my pride and joy.

"Thanks! My uncle bought it for me." She said. She backed her bike out of my drive way and I followed behind her. She started her bike and revved the engine. I smiled and started my own motorcycle. She adjusted her helmet and looked to me. I motioned for her to go ahead and she smiled.

"Ladies first." She drove toward our destination and I followed. I watched her body move of the bike when she turned, stopped and continued on our ride. Stop lights were fun, we both talked when we were stopped at a stop light. One time I didn't get through the light in time and she pulled over on the side of the road, pulled out a water bottle from the side of her bike and drank from it. I couldn't help but notice the water and how it glistened in the bright sunlight.

"Ready?" She asked when I pulled up beside her. She kicked back the kickstand and pushed off, pulling her legs up onto the pegs in front of her feet. I followed and we continued to ride as if it hadn't been disrupted by that red light. She was amazing. I couldn't wait to see about this bar we were going to. We started going into deeper country and soon arrived on a dirt road. She pulled onto it and followed it.

Five miles down the road I started to see bikes lined up. There were Harleys, Kawasakis, Yamahas, Hondas, and one bike that I had no clue what it was. We parked next to that one. Ezmeralda turned off her bike, took off her chaps, helmet, gloves, and put them all on the seat of her bike. I looked to her and she smiled.

"This is the safest place you will ever leave your things unattended, well other than The Union." I followed her example and walked over to her.

"What kind of bike is that?" I asked pointing to the one we parked next to. She smiled and patted the bike affectionately. Frowning she looked at the front and grabbed a pack of cigars out of the front of the windshield.

"This is an Excelsior Henderson." She said pocketing the cigars. I must have made a face because she smiled again. "My Papa's Motorcycle." She pointed to an old Harley next to it. "That is my Uncle's bike." She turned around and looked through the crowd of men and woman in biker's attire. "Come on you can meet them." She said and walked forward.

"Woah, I didn't know I was going to be meeting the parents quite this soon." She looked back at my joke and I smiled.

"Ha Ha neither did I as a matter of fact." She continued to walk and I followed. Soon she turned to a table with two older men and made the sush motion with her finger. Putting her hands over one of the men's eyes she smiled.

"Ezzie." The man said and she hugged him fiercely.

"Hi Daddy!" She stood up straight and smiled. "Daddy I would like you to meet my date, Shannon Moore. Shannon this is my Daddy."

"And what am I road dust?" The other man said.

"Oh ya, that bug on my windshield is my uncle Steve." She said and I smiled. I held out my hand to both of them and they shook mine in return.

"Thanks, I thought I was better than a crushed bug." She sat down next to her father which left a seat open for me at the other side of the table. Her uncle got up and moved to that seat so I could sit on her other side. I smiled my thanks and sat down.

"So what are they cooking for lunch I am starved!" She said and patted her stomach.

"Cheese burgers." He said and she clapped her hands playfully.

"Yay I love their cheese burgers!" She got up and walked into the bar and I was left there with her family members.

"So, what do you do for a living?" Her father asked. Looking at the man I noticed he, nor her uncle had no tattoos. Bad sign. I looked down at my own arms knowing that they had days of tattoo work on both of them.

"I am a wrestler." Her uncle laughed and nodded. I didn't know if I was to take that as an insult or not. I sighed and prayed that Ezmeralda would come back soon. "I also own a tattoo shop." I continued.

"You do ink?" her uncle finally said something to me directly. I nodded feeling his eyes on me. I looked up and met his eyes. He wasn't smiling. I started to sweat under my shirt. It wasn't that I thought that this man could beat me up, Hell I was almost five times his size in muscle. I really liked Ezmeralda and I didn't want her family members to not like me for any reason. I have no reason to not like my profession but some people just didn't like what I did. Violence was not their thing, or tattoos for that matter.

"Ya, I made the shop myself when I was taking time off from wrestling. I was learning how to tattoo when I was transferring from WWE to TNA. Now I am back to just managing the place. When I can I do some work, but mostly I have to train and that is time consuming." I looked to the door to the Bar and I smiled when Ezmeralda came out of the door. She sat beside her father and I sighed. I wish she would have sat next to me, It would have been easier.

"Were you nice to Shannon, Daddy?" She asked and he nodded. He smiled when she lay on his shoulder. I could see that if her father didn't like me things were going to be a big problem with our relationship.

"Yes baby girl. We were just talking about his tattoo shop." He said and that made her smile. I couldn't say that I wouldn't love to tattoo Ezmeralda. I would love to get my hands on her. A half an hour later of talking and meeting her father's biker friends, Ezmeralda went to go get her food. It had been cooking and she had decided to wait outside for it. I sighed and thought about going to get myself a soda before her father spoke.

"Hey kid." I blinked and looked to her father. I wasn't a kid, but to him I was. "That is my pride and joy in that bar right there." Oh no, here it comes. "If you think even once that you are going to hurt her, your best bet would be to commit suicide because if you don't you see these men around here that you have met today?" He asked before continuing not giving me the chance to reply. "They protect her, along with my self. You won't see day light for a long time if you do hurt her. So watch yourself Shannon." He took a sip of his own soda, "and what I just said isn't a threat. It's a promise." He stood and went to go talk to other guys around the building.

I stood and walked into the bar. I definitely needed something to drink after that one. Sure I could take those two men, but the many bikers that talked to Ezmeralda so lovingly and protectively I knew I wouldn't be able to take them all, not even if I had myself a gun. I would run out of bullets before I even took out half of them. I walked up behind Ezmeralda and smiled.

"Hi Shannon." She said surprising me. How did she know I was there? I looked around for mirrors and couldn't see any. It was so dark in here I couldn't even see some of the people in the corners. My mind couldn't grasp this woman. It couldn't even comprehend some of the things that she was able to do. I got my soda and I followed her out of the bar.

The rest of the date went well. I rode with her back to her apartment and hopped off my bike for goodbyes. She parked and walked up to me. She got off her own bike and smiled.

"That was fun." She said, her eyes sparkling with excitement. I could see a glow come off her that I have never seen on anyone else.

"Ya, it was. Thanks I had a great time." She walked over just as gracefully as ever and I could feel her warmth come closer. I could feel my body moving involuntarily to her. She wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm Glad Shannon. How does tomorrow sound? You can come over to my dinky apartment." I smiled and shook my head.

"How about my place? I can cook for you." She smiled and I could see the light bouncing off her white teeth. We were standing about a foot apart and it was still close enough so I could feel that unknown pull.

"Sure, I'm sure you are an awesome cook."

"Great then I'll see you tomorrow." I said and I went to put my helmet back on my head. She helped me adjust it even though I didn't need help and I felt her fingers brush my face a couple of times. I leaned into her touch every time; even though by the time I was leaning she was pulling away.

"Alright, ride safely." She said and patted the back of my bike. I rode home with a wave to her. My mind was racing with all the thoughts of her. I couldn't think of anything other than wow. She is the most amazing girl I had ever met. Muscle memory somehow got me back to my house because I don't think my mind was on driving. I walked into the house and let my dogs out. Lying on the couch I put my arm across my head. What an amazing woman!

A/N:Alright I know it took me forever to get this one up, but you have to understand that I was graduating from high school…YAY! And I didn't have much time to think, let alone type up a chapter. At least I made it nice and long for you all. I'm not feeling as much of a connection with this story as I was with the Jeff story, but I feel that once I get past the beginning stages I think that I will be more into it. I will just have to push through and we will see where things go. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are waiting patiently for the next ones. Love you all! REVIEW PLEASUMS!

~*Morna*~


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Alright here is the next one. I thought I would update while I am on my vacation so here goes nothing.

Chapter Eight: can't get any weirder.

I was running. My feet pounded the grass and leaves under me. They were bare and I could feel blood seeping from cuts on the bottom of my feet. How could I escape? I had no clue. My lungs were fighting for air and I couldn't get enough even with my gasping. Every down step the air was pushed from my lungs. My mind was frantically searching for a way out of this mess. I couldn't even think of what type of diseases I could be getting. I stopped when I ran into an old abandoned building. Looking down I saw a set of steps leading to the basement. Maybe I could be safe there.

"Run as fast as you can Toni." I could hear the panting of dogs. I had to find water. Where was I going to find water. There had been a drought for the past couple of months. I would be lucky to find a puddle. I found my way down to the basement. I ran through door after door trying to get away from those damn dogs. Their snouts picking up every last piece of my scent and following it.

Finally I found a set of steps leading to a door to the outside. I had to follow it. I couldn't just sit here and wait for them to find me. Find me…I wish Erica was here. Erica…who was Erica…Who was Toni? I was Toni, but how did I know that. I was Shannon. I wasn't Toni. Who was I?

I climbed up the stairs and opened the door. It squeaked loudly and I cursed under my breath in a language that I didn't understand. I knew what I said though. How could I know what I was saying, but be using a language I had never used in my life? I climbed out of the basement door and didn't bother to close it. They knew I was there and closing it would only mean that I would be slowed down. Maybe they would think that I climbed in through the basement door. I ran again. I knew I was running for my life and I knew that if I didn't get away I would be killed.

Erica was killed that was. She was caught. I left because I knew I wouldn't be able to stay and still live. I couldn't, no, wouldn't stay there with people who killed her. She was my everything and they brutally killed her.

Her screams pierced my thoughts as I scrambled through the woods trying to find a river, a creek, a lake, pond, anything. "Toni! Toni help! Please! Stop!" I could hear her in the other room as I was being held down by the boss's son. He was raping her.

"It'll be my turn soon Toni." I wanted to kill him. I fought against him kicked screamed for Erica. Tried to get out of his grasp, yet I was still running. My mind was torn between three different times, and two different me's. I Shannon was asleep. I knew this, or I thought I knew this. Then Toni, which was me, I think, was running for his life AND trying to save Erica, a woman both me's knew to be dead. Killed in cold blood after being brutally raped.

I screamed and fought trying to get to her. I needed to get to her. I had to. She was going to be killed, and what of our unborn child? What of Kira? Will she be okay? I ran looking ahead of me. Trying to find a way to beat these people. I couldn't find a way out of these woods. Kira was dead. Erica had gone into labor and neither of them allowed her to have time to push Kira out into this world before they continued their assault on her beautiful body. I couldn't stand it. What was I thinking? This is a dream. This isn't real. This is a figment of my imagination and I could control this dream if I wanted to and I would.

There is the river. Right up ahead. I felt immense pain and a gun shot. I rolled. Time passed but it felt like years before I saw the man I wanted to kill for the lives of my wife and unborn daughter.

"I told you I would get you Toni." I was dead before I even heard the gun shot.

I woke up with a jolt. This one wasn't as calm as the other one. But somehow equally puzzling. I had no clue who Toni was and I didn't know how he had gotten into my dream. I needed to figure out what the hell was going on with my head. Time to go to the expert. Strangely, she was my new Girlfriend. I looked at the clock and sighed. It was nearly 1 in the morning. She wouldn't be awake at this hour. Fuck.

I stood up and walked around all the dogs in my room. They all slept through the door opening and while I got a drink. I couldn't figure out what these dreams were about. Returning to my bedroom I see my phone light up on the night stand table. My mind tells me it is Ezzie. I walk over to the table and pick it up. It was her. She had sent me a text message saying that she wanted me to call her as soon as I woke up. I dialed and waited. She was awake and she wanted me to call her. Something must be up.

"Hello?" I heard her voice on the other line. She sounded as though she had been running a mile.

"What's wrong?" I asked her. It took her a moment to answer me.

"Why didn't you save me?" She asked harshly. I was confused, the only thing that I could think of at the moment was my dream.

"What?" I asked trying to figure out what she was talking about. She couldn't be talking about my dream.

"Why didn't you save me from them? Why didn't you save Kira?" my heart stopped. Kira, that was the unborn baby girl. I stammered a reply, but had to repeat myself.

"How do you know about that? I…we…what?" She stopped and I could tell that she had been crying.

"You don't know do you? You don't remember?" I shook my head and realized that she couldn't see me.

"No I don't know. You are talking about a dream I just had." I said, how could she know about that dream? Could we have been dreaming the same thing? "Ezmeralda, why don't you come over. I think we need to talk."

"I think we do too." She said. And with that we both hung up, Ezmeralda heading to my house and me to put some clothes on. Who were these people and how does Ezmeralda know about my dreams? This was getting a little too weird for me and I didn't like it. Once I had clothes on I sat on the couch in the living room and waited. I didn't have to wait long though before I heard a light knock on the door. Time to figure out what was going on with my life.

A/N: So Shannon and Ezmeralda are having similar dreams. Lets just see what happens in the next chapter to find out what really is going on between those two. REVIEW PLEASUMS!

~*Morna*~


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

A/N: OMFG! It's been a whole year since I have updated this story! Ugh...You know I love you all right? Well I am really sorry for it taking me so long to update. I hope you enjoy this next chapter and now that I have internet at home again I am hoping to update a lot more than I have in the past year. I am going to reopen my twitter for my stories. I will also have it open for those of you who are interested in my other stories...ones that I can't post on . Well have fun with this next chapter!

Chapter Nine: In The Past

I was sitting on the couch with Ezmeralda. She was pale and her eyes were framed with dark circles. I had been quiet for the past five minutes but I couldn't stand the silence any longer.

"What is going on Ezmeralda?" I asked turning to her. She looked over to me and then away, clearly upset about what we had both dreamed. She sighed heavily and I could tell that she was struggling with herself.

"I'm not sure how to explain it myself...Not to a Christian." She said. I frowned. That had hurt. I may be Christian, but damn it I am open minded about a lot of things. I stood up from the couch and I walked over to the fireplace mantel.

"Explain what Ezmeralda? Explain that somehow we had the same dream, how every time I had those dreams I was being killed? How when I call you, you come out with 'Why didn't you save me?' What is so hard to explain that will make this any weirder? I'm already in a spiral here!" I turned to her then and looked at her. She was crying.

"Don't you think this is hard for me too?" I scoffed at that. Hard for her? She was into this mumbo jumbo stuff how was this hard for her? '_Why didn't you save me?'_ At the door way to the kitchen I stopped.

"You felt all of that didn't you?" I asked still not facing her.

"Everything." The silence in the room was deafening.

"What was it?" I asked sliding down onto the floor and leaning my head against the door frame. I didn't want to look at her much less sit with her right now. It took her a while to answer me. I could hear her sniffles from the other side of the room.

"Past lives. Our past lives and how we have died." I didn't say anything so she continued. "It is said that people who are destined to be with each other and go through many lives together are called soul mates. They follow each other through life and death and sometimes they find each other again sometimes it takes a couple life times." She took a deep breath and I heard her shift on the couch. "You and I are just that, soul mates, destined to be with one another, forever." I shook my head.

"This isn't making sense." I said closing my eyes and seeing nothing but Erica Elli and Ezmeralda.

"Is it not making sense or is it that you don't want it to make sense?" She asked softly. None of this was right. All I wanted was a normal life. Soul mates, past lives, this shit happened in faery tales and fantasy books.

"Ezmeralda none of this makes sense. Just, just get out. Soul mates, past lives, dreaming together, this stuff doesn't happen in real life. It just doesn't. We are born, we live, we die, the end. No soul mates, no second chances, no crazy reoccurring murders. Just get out!" I looked over to her as I finished the sentence and groaned inwardly. Ezmeralda's face was a mask of sadness. Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears, her brows knit together. Her lips were pursed trying to hold back the sob that I knew was coming. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. Her chest rose and fell with the effort and she looked back up at me. Tears escaped her eyes and she said in a calm voice.

"Fine Mr. Moore. I'm sorry I freaked you out. I'm sorry I lied to you. I'm sorry I made your night a bad one. I'll leave now…Goodbye." As she got up and walked to the door her goodbye seemed so final. It felt like the end of everything and with the closing of the door it felt like the period at the end of a sentence. I looked around the room at my crazy decorations. I sighed and sat. I heard the car door open and close, and the car engine turn over. As the lights of her car flowed over my front windows and away from the house I hit my head against the wall. Taking a deep breath I yelled. I yelled so loud my dogs ran away, I yelled for myself, I yelled for my life, I yelled for the sake of yelling.

"What the fuck am I doing?" I yelled "I just reassured myself that I am open minded and here I am shutting her down! I know what she believes in and I know that she is strong to her beliefs. WHY DID I SHUT HER DOWN?" I yelled. My anger was always in the way. It has always been in the way! It was in the way when I was younger, it was in the way when I got married to Crystal, it as in the way when I tried to date after Crystal, WHY CAN'T I REIGN IN MY ANGER?

I stood. I had to get to Ezmeralda. Who knew what would happen if I just let her leave. Grabbing my keys I ran out to my car I ran out to it, jumped in, and started it up. I didn't want to lose her.

No!

I wouldn't lose her.

The engine roared beneath me and I pulled out of my drive way quickly. Turning the wheel I headed straight down the street. I pushed the pedal down to the floor and sped up. I knew she was going to be my everything, I could already feel it. My heart was pounding in my throat at the thought of losing her. This wasn't about just me anymore, this was about us, and I had ruined it with one sentence. I punched the steering wheel and heard the horn go off. I turned the truck. Tires squealing, dust, and the truck tipping to the side only to land back on all four wheels. She was angry, just as angry as I was. I should have caught up to her already. I turned another corner and almost ran right into her own car. I breaked as hard as I could hearing the screeching tires as they halted and the truck slid over the pavement. Throwing my door open I jumped out.

"Ezmeralda!" I screamed into the early morning predawn light. I ran to her car and opened the driver's side door. She wasn't there. I looked around me and looked to the woods just beyond the car. I knew she would be in there. Grabbing the keys out of the engine I ran off into the woods. "Ezmeralda!" I yelled again into the woods animals darting off in fear. I ran following a barely visible trail before I skidded to a stop in front of a crick. I listened hard trying to figure out if she had followed the bank or if she had continued straight on through the woods. I looked down at the soft dirt and saw foot prints following the shore. I jumped into the eroded earth and ran in the direction the foot prints went. I heard her before I saw her. The crick had turning into a large stream at this point and I had, had to step up out of the eroded shore and onto the grassy bank.

She was sitting in the middle of the stream with her feet in the water. I saw her shoes sitting on the shore and I could see her shirt and pants on the shore as well. Her hair was wet and her bra and panties were dark with the water saying she had swum there. I stood on the bank and watched her sob for maybe two minutes. I began to take off my shoes and sitting them next to hers. I shed my shirt and pants and jumped into the freezing water. Fighting the quickening current I reached the cluster of rocks she sat on and clung to a rock before pulling myself up. Ezmeralda looked at me and I pushed my hair out of my face. Reaching out to her I pulled her over to me and sighed.

"Ezmeralda, I'm sorry." She continued to sob and her tears were amazingly warm to my half frozen skin. She sat in my arms sobbing and half heartedly fighting me. Her fists beat at my legs, my chest, my arms, until she had no fight left in her.

"You're a bastard." She stated simply. I looked down at her and sighed. Yea, I knew, of course I knew. I had been told that hundreds of times by woman who knew me and didn't know me.

"I know. I'm sorry that I am. I'm so angry all the time. My life, even though some may envy me, isn't fair at all." I felt Ezmeralda go still, her breathing being the only movement. I went on. "I lost my father when I was young, I didn't have that time with him that everyone else did. I struggled with my mom to help support myself and my brother. I got taken to court because I missed too many school days in my senior year because I was working to help support my mother, I had girlfriends and a wife who I in the end got divorced from and then my father dies the same year only months apart. Yea, I know, my life isn't that bad, it's not as bad as others. I realize that, but to me it's a lot. I never express myself other than through wrestling, my tattoos, and my makeup. Other than that I don't know how to control my anger. No not only my anger, all of my feelings. I'm weirded out I don't know what to do, what to think." I sighed lowering my head in shame. I should know how to do these things. I should be able to control myself. Any man should be able to do it, so why can't I? I felt Ezmeralda continue breathing normally and felt her relax into me.

"I'm sorry too Shannon." She said playing with the tattoos on my arms. I looked down at her cold wet body and sighed I guess this was it then. I messed everything up for myself.

"So this is it then?" I asked and closed my eyes. I didn't want to look at her when she said it.

"If I was going to say that why would I be sitting here still? It's too nice here in your arms." She laughed weakly and I opened my eyes.

"Really?" I asked barely hearing my own voice. I heard her laugh a little stronger this time.

"Consider this our first fight." She said and looked past us into the horizon that was light with brilliant purples, blues, and pinks. I looked at it and sighed. A new day. Perhaps this means a new me? I chuckled at that. No there could never be a new me, but I could look at life in a better way.

"What?" Ezmeralda asked me her bright eyes looking up at me. I shook my head and kissed the top of hers.

"Nothing, just thinking how weird it would be to have a me that was excited and chipper all the time." I put my hands together in prayer form in front of me. "Oh golly wiz! What a beautiful day it sure will be Ezmeralda dear! I can't wait to share it this wonderful part of life with you!" I laughed and she giggled with me. I smiled and she shook her head.

"You're silly." She said and sighed contentedly before leaning back into me. I moved to get up, but she pressed down on my lap with her body. "No, enjoy the silence." She said and I smiled. "You don't need to be "Oh Golly Wiz!" About it, but you should at least relax and enjoy this silence while you have it." I sighed and sat back. Soon my relaxed face turned into a frown. Now I remembered why I never let myself sit and relax. Sometimes there are things in the past that you will never forget, forgive, or want to remember.

A/N: ALRIGHT! I'm sorry that it took so long for me to get that up…there really is no excuse…well other than I didn't have internet…but I still could have been writing while I was waiting to get internet. Well I hope you liked this update. I'll be working on the others soon. Love you all! REVIEW PLEASUMS!

~*Morna*~


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